Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 February 2026
393. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of the National Flood Forecasting and Warning Service; the amount expended on the development of the service to date; the schedule of the persons and entities that have contributed to its development; and the date on which it is targeted to go live for the general public to access the service [13446/26]
View answerThe National Flood Forecasting and Warning Service (NFFWS) is a three-leg framework for flood monitoring, flood forecasting and flood warning that is currently being developed in Ireland. The NFFWS was established by the Government in 2016, with the Office of Public Works (OPW) leading national flood risk management policy and chairing the NFFWS Steering Group. The Stage 1 Steering Group included representatives from the OPW, NDFEM, CCMA, Met Éireann, DPER and the Department of Agriculture.
The OPW led Stage 1 of the NFFWS framework, the initial setup phase, during which the flood monitoring leg was designed to draw upon existing hydrometric networks. Met Éireann, Ireland’s national meteorological service, was assigned responsibility for the flood forecasting leg. The OPW also oversaw standards and governance during Stage 1. The flood warning leg was not developed during this phase.
During Stage 1 Met Éireann focused on establishing the National Flood Forecasting Centre (FFC). The FFC became operational in early 2024, using the State’s legacy hydrometric network, although this network had not originally been designed to support flood forecasting. Under Stage 1, the OPW was responsible for expanding and modernising the hydrometric network to meet flood forecasting requirements.
The FFC has now been operational for 24 months and provides national and catchment-scale flood forecasts, guidance statements and advisories to local authorities and emergency management stakeholders ahead of potential flooding. This supports the planning and preparedness activities of emergency managers, principal response agencies and Government bodies.
These outputs, however, provide general guidance only. They are not sufficiently localised to function as a public flood warning service. They offer early indications of potential impacts and help stakeholders prepare and allocate resources, but they do not replace a formal warning function.
Met Éireann currently shares information on expected flooding through its weather warnings, website and app forecasts and media engagement.
While the OPW remains responsible for national flood risk management policy and chaired the NFFWS Steering Group during Stage 1, responsibility for planning Stage 2 transferred in 2025 to a subgroup of the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning, chaired by the Office for Emergency Planning (OEP). This subgroup comprises representatives from the OEP, NDFEM, CCMA, OPW, Met Éireann, DPER and the Department of the Taoiseach.
Stage 2 will complete the development of all three flood monitoring, flood forecasting and flood warning legs of the NFFWS to deliver an operational, localised flood forecasting and public warning service.
The OEP intends to bring a Memorandum for Government to Cabinet shortly. This will set out the roles and responsibilities of the relevant Departments and Agencies for Stage 2, along with the proposed implementation and governance arrangements.
Total expenditure from 2018 to the end of 2025 on establishing and developing the Flood Forecasting Centre at Met Éireann amounts to €6.9 million.
